The Glass That Separates Us
by Luna.T.Lawliet
Summary: A woman, trapped in a mental hospital, doesn't see the world like we do. She sees something else when she gazes out of a window. She sees Underland and they see her. Mentions Tarrant/OC. Better then it sounds.


_**Okay...  
**_

_**I was reading this and decided that I could improve it so I decided to do just that. It's not one of my best but I quite like it so who knows? Maybe you will too.  
**_

_**If I could, I'd like to ask you to listen to the song My love by Sia. I listened to it while writing this and believe that it sort of fits in with the message I'm trying to get across. **_

_**Hope you enjoy.**_

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_**Luna's POV**_

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I walked down one of the many long corridors, my eyes wondering around to look out of the windows though I remained blind to the _usual _scene as some of the other patients had pointed out on more than one occasion. I'd been approached by others many times, asked about why I found outside so interesting. At first, I had asked them all why they didn't find it beautiful, captivating even. The only answers I got in return were cruel laughs and snide comments. According to them, I was staring at the grounds where we were allowed to stretch our legs. I was supposedly staring at dozens of sweaty people in dull grey clothes as they chased after balls and played with skipping ropes. Instead, I was rewarded with glimpses into many scenes, depending on which window I decided to stare out of that day.

The one beside a large potted fern had grown to be one of my favourites by far. Huge trees danced slightly in the breeze I couldn't feel, speaking civilly with brightly coloured flowers who had been rooted right by their feet. Sometimes, I found myself wondering what matters they spoke about, wondering if they could see me as clearly as I could see them.

Occasionally, an animal or person would stroll by as if on a walk through the lovely piece of countryside. Out of everything and everyone whom walked past, one person... or should I say animal?... was familiar to me. His name, sadly, remained just out of reach, stored in the fuzzy part of my memory where most of my dreams tended to evade me but I knew that I knew him. The snowy white rabbit, constantly adjusting his navy coloured waistcoat, always stood out from the rest. He was always in my dreams, inviting me to the white palace to have tea with my friends or asking if I'd like him to help me pack up some gifts to take back to Witzend with me.

Sighing quietly to myself, I moved across the hall to another window though this one wasn't as large as the other one. Gazing into it, it showed me a clearing which, again, rang bells inside my mind. In the middle of it was a large table though admittedly, it was actually made up of 6 individual ones of all shapes and sizes. I guess that didn't make it a really bit table but it was covered in one table cloth so technically, it was but it wasn't at the same time. I supposed it's like ice in that respect. It's still water but it's frozen which makes it ice.

Sitting on either side of it was a mouse and a hare, both of whom seemed to be rather close to me in my dreams but unlike the white rabbit, their names weren't lost. Usually, I would simply sit and watch as they spoke to each other, sat at that very table until the sky turned from blue to orange and then from orange to black until the pair finally stopped their bickering. Mallyumkin, or Mally as she preferred to be called, would say something that offended Thackery in some way or another so in return, he'd throw a scone at her. When I slept, I enjoyed listening in on their conversations as one could never be bored while doing it. The pair would switch topic so quickly that I had to focus intently in order to catch onto every subject they'd chosen.

Sat at the head of the table in a very tattered arm chair, which I suspect had seen many better days in its life, was him. That man with his untameable orange hair, ghostly complexion and huge emerald eyes. He was the one that I felt the most drawn to. I guess it was similar to love but then I had to remind myself that he was nothing more than a mere delusion, a dream of something I could never truly have. Yet, no matter how many time I repeated those very words inside of my mind, I couldn't help wishing that I could be with him. That I could make that ever present sadness to leave his eyes.

Come to think of it, I had never actually seen him happy from behind the bars of my prison but I had in my dreams. Sometimes, we were singing about a couple of twinkling bats. Sometimes, we were making up completely wacky tea flavours to blend so our friends could taste at them at the next tea party. I'd even had a dream or two where we were dancing with this beautiful little child called Alice who had long blonde hair. Oh, she looked so pretty in her frilly blue dress and with her hair sculpted into the most perfect little curls that framed her face perfectly. If I remember correctly, she had interrupted us all while we were in the middle of enjoy tea which Tarrant, my bow tie wearing hat maker, found rather rude; yet, he still allowed her to join in with us.

From there, she told us about 'Otherland' traditions like Christmas and birthdays that only happened once a year! Unbirthdays were so much better as they happened everyday but one!

Sadly, they were the reason that I was in that hell hole in the first place. I had tried desperately to tell the doctors that I wasn't crazy, that they'd see them too if they simply opened their eyes and took a good look but they still didn't believe me.

They never did.

Instead, they call me a lunatic and give me these little powdery things called 'tablets', though the nickname was nothing new. In my dream world, Tarrant was forever calling me his little 'Looney' though I refused to take the medicine they tried to shove down my throat. I would only take potions and then, it still depended fully on whom had knocked it up for me. If I didn't know them, I still wouldn't take it. Who knows? Someone could've slipped some pishsalve into it so they could step on me when no one looking before wiping the evidence onto the carpet.

That wouldn't be a very good thing.

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_**Tarrant's POV**_

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I sat there in the head chair as I did day after day, drinking from my favourite chipped cup and saucer. The very same set that she had created for me many moons ago, complaining that I should own at least one piece which matched perfectly with another. Though I usually hated things like that, I agreed and accepted the matching gift without much fuss. That day would've been about... 12 years ago, if I had to make a rough guestimation. Time never did flow smoothly for me after I attempted to murder him for taking something so precious away from me... Looking back on the occasion, I can tell that it wasn't the best thing to do; at the time, it seemed perfectly fine.

The was when I caught sight of her. The Lady of the Glass or The Spirit of Reflection, depending entirely on what part of Underland you just so happened to be raised in of course as a name couldn't be completely agreed on for her. To see her here at tea wasn't anything particularly strange as she usually happened to appear, her hand pressed against the window of the old windmill with a deep longing echoing somewhere in her eyes. No one could explain who she was, where she was, how she was, what she was or who she was.

She just was.

She was constantly gazing upon our world with a far away look in her eyes... so much like who she used to.

You see, once upon a merry time, I had a friend... Well, I say a friend. She was more like a friend, a lover, a playmate, a protector and a secret keeper all rolled up into one before being baked. If Luna Rib-Stitch was a recipe, that would be it though there would be a small note at the bottom saying: Sprinkle slightly with attitude and add a large pinch of vulnerability.

We had grown up together, ever since we were wee children. The Hightopp clan and the Rib-Stitch clam were notoriously known around Underland as they were the only clans whom managed to share a piece of land. Both of our families had managed to live peacefully in Witzend for countless centuries, never branching out for each member managed to find their perfect match in the other family. The woman were all taught the art of sewing and quickly became well sought after seamstresses while the men were taught to create magnificent hats. All in all the system, that had developed itself over time, worked perfectly.

Our story, like many of the others whom lived there, was simple. We grew up together, the fact that our houses were beside each other helping to bring us closer. My mother was always one to joke that we were little sweethearts and were bound to end up together forever. She was right, of course, because my mother was always right about these kinds of things... many other things for that matter too. She could tell a persons measurements and the perfect colours for people's complexions with a single glance and was almost always right.

Anyway, she was correct in her assumptions. The moment we were both of age, I had asked her if I could court her, knowing for definite that I always wanted to be with her. Not long after our marriage, we were asked to work at the palace for the queen as her royal hatter and seamstress.

Life seemed perfect from there.

We visited our family every year to attend the large festival they held, had friends like Mally and Marchy and had met a lovely little girl called Alice but on Horunvendush Day, the bloody big head came and unleashed her little _pet _onto the village, slaughtering everyone who stood in its way. Including my wife!

I had saved the queen, leading her to safety with the thought that Luna was following me.

When I returned to the clearing, she was laying in the tree line with a small smile on her face and my burnt hat in her hands, joking weakly about the fact that it would need a couple of patches.

I had tried to save her. Please believe me when I say that I did.

I had cradled her in my arms and ran to where the queen was waiting. She had shed a tear for my love, looking down at her with regret in her eyes. I had held her there, keeping her close to my body, just hoping that she would survive it but she didn't. She just looked up at me, turned her head to kiss my wrist as I held her head then closed her eyes, succumbing to death.

She had left me.

After, we buried her beside the windmill that she loved so much. Whenever I had tea, I could almost feel her eyes on me, just like that woman's. That woman, the lady of glass, had appeared a while after we buried her. She was always there, looking out, watching me. I couldn't help but feel something for her. The lost look her in sapphire eyes, the same shade as my Looney.

With a sigh, I told my friends that I had to begin walking back to the castle if I wanted to get there before nightfall. After assuring them that I would visit soon, with a new tea flavour, I cast one last look to the windmill then left. Deep down, I knew that she'd be waiting in my workshop, looking at me through the mirror.

Just like she usually did.

* * *

_**Luna's POV**_

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When I saw him leave, I knew that it was time to return to my room. In the mirror they had allowed me to have, knowing that I wouldn't try to kill myself by breaking it for the sharp edges, I could look right into his workshop. Bright fabrics and threads of every colour imaginable littered every possible surface. On 2 wooden shelves, attached to the wall, sat different sized models of heads. A few proudly displayed some of his latest creations so anyone who went in to place an order could see first hand what he was capable of.

In my opinion, Tarrant was rather talented in the hat making field though when I saw him work, I got the strangest sensation. My fingertips seemed to itch like crazy, like I wanted to make something too though instead, I settled with drawing wild designs down which I thought would look good if ever matched with his pieces. Sometimes they were dresses, other times they were suits and once, it was an outfit completely made of white, inspired by his complex use of feathers on an evening hat. Strange, I know.

Luckily, I didn't have to wait very long until he entered, handing his hat on the peg beside the door. Once it was out of the way, I could see the wild orange curls sticking out at impossible angles, making me want to run my fingers through them in order to smooth them out slightly. Next to go was his blue jacket, revealing a slightly crinkled shirt. Rolling his sleeves up as he went, he moved over to the table which held his latest creation but the only one which faced me. I watched on, completely captivated by the way he manipulated and sculpted the material into a breath taking piece of art. I even found myself complimenting him but sadly, he couldn't hear through the glass that separated our worlds.

I didn't stop however.

I perched on my bed, watching him work right up until the end, until he finally seemed to realised that I could actually see him. Smiling slightly, I couldn't help but watch in awe as he smiled back though it seemed to radiate a great deal of sadness.

Before I could restrain myself, I had rested my hand on the cool surface of the mirror, as it to comfort him. To my surprise, he approached slowly and did the same.

Feeling a cool tear slip down my cheek, I closed my eyes and whispered the one word which had to power to make my heart ache terribly.

" Tarrant."

Opening them again, I saw a similar tear escape his emerald eyes too and for once, I got to hear what I had always wanted to here from his world behind my mirror.

" Luna."


End file.
